Airplane



Feb. 27, 1934. TTs 1,948,629

AIRPLANE Original Filed May 23, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 H REL-D pl- 7'75 "INVENTOR ATTORNEY Feb. 27, 1934.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 H. PITTS AIRPLANE Original Filed May 23, 1931 J mm mm rlIlEIflZ III] Illllll fianmb 1 775 ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 27, 1934 f U ITE STATES PATENT OFFICE 'imaariuas mwua] 1021. serial No. 539,441 m: as. m:- V

. My present invention relates to improvements in airplanes or airships, of the heavier than air,

monoplane type. and ,the improvements relate particularly to means for assuring a correctly I balanced ship having buoyancy as compared with the usual constructions of airships, and possessing planes having lines and curvaturesintheirshapethatinsureaminimum wind resistance, with a maximum speed for the n ship. And means are provided for increasing the facility in navigation, as well as for enhancing the ease of maneuvering the ship when talfing oi as well as in landing.

The invention consists in certain novel 'feall tures of construction and'combinations and arrangements of parts involving a cellular wing structure, and the relation of the wings to the fuselagepr hull of the ship, and in means for I navigating, taking off and landing the ship; as It! will hereinafter be more fully set forth and claimed. a r v In the accompanying I have illus; trated one complete example of the'physieal em-. hodiment of my invention wherein the parts are combined and arranged according to the best mode I have thus far devised for the practical application of the principles of my invention.

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a ship embodying my invention, in the position of flight, so and showing by dotted lines the movement of the forward aileronsand aft elevators for navigating the ship, and of one of the brake-Wing's employed. in landing.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the ship or airplane, showing by dotted lines the movement of the lateral brake-wings employed in landingor maneuvering the ship.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view of the ship, forward of the trailing edges of the'planes, asatline-3--3ofFigure2.

, Figure 4 is anenlarged, detail, fragmentary view showing a portion of one of .thecellular wings.

5 Figure 5 is a detail plan view showing the cockpit, the forward ailerons, and the brake-wings, and operating parts.

Figure 6 is-a vertical sectional 'view at the cockpit, broken away to disclose the brake-wings an control mechanism therefor.

. In carrying out my invention I have utilized a monoplane type of airship having the usual fuselageor body 1, which is preferably of approximate rectangular shape in cross section and built upon spaced, transverse frame-units as 2. The

. 41 v usual cockpit is indicated at 3 and a passenger cabin 4 is shown aft of the cockpit.

At the nose or forward end of the ship a single propeller 5 is driven by the motor 6, and for navigation of the ship the usual vertical rudder 7 0. is employed in conjunction with the aft elevators,

8, 8, at opposite sides of the rudder. The control mechanism, part of which is indicated at 9, is placed as usualin position for ready access bythe pilot in the'cockpit, and the ship is operated in usual manner by the pilot, r

The airship is provided with the usual wheeled forward landing gear 10 and aft landing gear or,

' rigging 11, for use in taking oil! and in landing.-

The two wings 12 and 13 of the airship are 10- cated at approximately the level of the top of the or fuselage 1 of the ship, and of course they are symmetrically arranged at the sides of the ship. The wings are supported by and include a number of transversely arranged trusses as 14 78 (Figure 3) that are of course secured to the frames 2 of the fuselage, and longitudinally and transversely braced to aiiord a structure suitable for the purpose.

'As indicated in Figure 3 the wings are of considerable thickness, especially at the sides of the fuselage where the vertical thickness of the wings are indicated, and adjacent to the trailing end or stem of the ship the wings have a thickness of approximately the depth of the fuselage. l

In order to lighten the ship, and insure increased buoyancy in the air, as well as on the surface of the water, the interior of the wings is constructed with a multiplicity of cells 15, here shown as hexagonal in horizontal cross section, and the cells are, enclosed within the top ,and bottom sheathing 16 and 16' respectively for the wings. The cells are of unequal capacities, depending upon their location in the two wings, and they are preferably filled with a lighter-than-air gas, as helium, to. afford buoyancy in the interest of safety, while the ship is in the air, and also. for floating the airship should a landing on the surface of water be required.

As best seen in Figure '2 the two wings at the 9 sides of the ship provide an equilateral, triangular shape, with a curved apex 17 over the cockpit of the ship, and from this apex, the outspreading lateral edges 18 and 19 of the respective wings diverge at such an angle, toward the stern of the U ship, as to afford a minimum resistance 'to passage of the ship through the air in flight. The obliquely disposed, leading edges .18 and 19 merge into rounded ends 20, 20, and they in turn merge into the trailing edges 21, 21 of the wings which trail- 1 ing edges are disposed at the sides of the rudder and elevators at the. stern of the ship'. The wings thus .extendfrom the nose of the ship, with their leading edges on'diverging lines, to the tail ofthe j ship, and-the maximum widthor span of the wings occurs atthe tail of the ship as indicated in Figurez. Theinner edges of the wings merge .at 22, 22, with the top surface of the fuselage or body of the ship.

As best seen in Figure 3, the under surface 23 of each wingis concave in cross section, with the -meeting edge 24 of the .under surface, at the side of the fuselage, extending from the nose'to the tail of the ship, while the top surface of the wings also has a less pronounced, transverse concavity.-

On the longitudinallines, as-best seen in Figure 1, the leading or diverging edges 18 and '19 'form;

a,comp'ound curve with a lower concavity 25 from rim of the ship is broughtto a comparatively face of the wings near their tails, lateral ailerons,

low point, approximately along the longitudinal axis of the ship at the floor boards F, to insurea correct balance of the ship in the air, and-the shape of, the wings similar to that of a birds wings when soaring, assure a long glide for the ship long glide is desirable.

, For navigational use in ascending or descend.- ing, I provide near the nose of the ship and beneath the windows of the cockpit, and approximately on a. longitudinal line with the. under surcomprising a pair of fixed ailerons 27, 27 of tri-' angular shape, and a pair 'ofsubstantially rectangular, movable ailerons 28, 28 which are hinged at'opposite sides ofthe ship as at 29, on a transedges of the-fixed ailerons 27, and the rear, free edges, or the trailing edges of the movable ailerons may be raised or lowered as-indicated by dotted lines in Figure 1, through manipulation of'the hand. lever 31. The movable ailerons at the fore part of the ship co-operate with the elevators at the tail of -the ship and as is the case-with the elevatorsfthe aileronsare tilted upwardly to ,descend, and downwardly to ascend.

To aidin maneuvering the ship-when ala'nding is desired,- I, equip the ship with three brake-wings,

as 32, 33, and 34, the first two, arrangedat opposite sides of the ship, just to the rear, or aft o f.the.

" ailerons. 28, and the'brake-wing 3.4 is locatedat the underside of the fuselage. When retracted and not in'u'se, these brake-wingsare flush with the outer surface of the fuselage or body of the ship, and ofier' no resistance to wind pressure.

' The brake-wi-ngs32land 33, are hinged at 35 at their-forward edges,while the brake-wing 34 is hinged at 35, the axis of the hinges for wings 32 and 33 being arranged finvertical planes while the axis of the bottom wing is arranged on a hori 'zontal plane.

The'free edges of trailing edges of the brakewings are adaptedv to swing. outwardly from the shp, and when the brake-wings are swung to position at rightangles to, or perpendicular to the line of travel of the ship, as in Figure 5, the brake-wings present surfaces that, offer a re-- sistance to the atmospheric currents, and perform the functionsof brakes for the ship, to re-. tard its forward movement; and permit of. a

available in flight, as wellv as for landing when a quicker landingof the ship, The brake-wings are manipulated by the pilot, in synchronism with the rudder, elevators, and ailerons of the ship, and of course the judgment of thepilot determines the use; and the time of use of the brake-Wings.

For simultaneously operating the three brakewings I provide a control'lever 36 (Figure 6) readilyaccessible to the pilot in the cockpit, and

this pivoted lever is connected-by the rearwardly extending connecting rod 3'7 to a slide block 38 that may be reciprocated on the longitudinally extending guides-or guideways 39 fixed alongthe floor F of the ship. Pivoted links 40 connect the slide block with crank arms 41 of the vertically arranged, side, brake-wings 32 and 33, and sim- .ilar links 42 pivotally connect the slide block with the-bottom brake-wing 34, and it will .be apparent that by manipulating the control lever 36 the brake-wings may be unfolded or folded on their hinges as indicated by dotted lines in the various figures of the drawings.

As best seen in Figure 1, the compound curve provides for an inverted cambre, longitudinally on theupper surface of the wings 13 and 12, which has a tendency to increase the vacuum ef- 4 feet above the wings when the ship is' traveling,

and .the pressure beneath the. wings maintains the ship in uplifted position.

The l'fting effect or buoyancy of the ship in the air is also enhanced by the shape of the may be embodied in a biplane or other type of airship, and the single 'motor may be displaced by a' multi-motor with additional propellers, pref ver'se horizontal beam 30. The forward edges of the hinged ailerons are supported along the rear erably at the nose of the ship.

For increased speed, the angularity of the leading edges 18 and 19 of the wings may be changed and a more acute angle provided than the equilateral angle shown in the drawings,. .while' for reduced speed with an increased load 'exemplificatio'nof my invention disclosed in the drawings without departing from the principles of my claims appended hereto.

Having thus fully descrbed my invention what {I claim as new and desire to' secure byLetters' Patent is:-

1. The combination, in an airship having a rounded nose, of a pair of wings forming an equi-' lateral' triangle including the nose, said wings ,having a longitudinal cambre and reverselycurved leading edgesdiverging rearwardly from the nose, and transversely arranged outwardly curved trailing edges for the-wings. 1

. 2. The combination in an airship .having a rounded-nose; of a pair of wings forming an equilateral triangle including the nose, said wings having a longitud nal cambre and reverselycurved leading edges diverging rearwardly from the-nose, transversely arranged outwardly curved trailing dges for the wings, a rudder and elevators at the rear of the wings, laterally extending ailerons adjacent the nose portion of the ship,

hinge joints for a pair of said ailerons, and means for operating elevators, and said the rudders, I HAROLD PITTS.

ailerons. 

